ANOTHER ONE! SUCH GLEE IS MORE THAN I THOUGHT POSSIBLE!

Apparently, that citrus smell was so powerful it permeated other fics that updated at the same time... A Delicate Balance, at least,

>MFW The Other Mare updates
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Hard to balance comedy and serious drama in a single chapter, but this is an excellent example of how to do it.

I can't so much comment as just gush about how much I love this series and how everyone's written. Love it, love it, love it.

Exceptionally well done. I really like how you've done the discussion between Luna and Celestia. I look forward to seeing where this goes.

The slow, crunchy dialogue that's sort of a hallmark of this story works very much in your favor for the Luna / Celestia portion of this piece. I can't pretend to know what the achingly slow process of working out a thousand-year hurt is like, but it does sort of feel like we've got a glimpse at these two dancing just slightly closer to one another as they continue to spin around and around and around, which is nice. "Romance Reports"'s Luna is just such a hurting creature, and it makes you want to do something for her, but something resembling wholeness might not be achievable for a good long time.

Second portion: Sciencelestia is unexpectedly adorable. Watch your tense when Cheerilee gets out of bed and comes downstairs for the first time; there's a couple points there where it dips back into past tense, which is really easy to do when you're trying to do scene-setting and still maintain the present tense. Scene-setting is so much easier when you can use "was".

I'm not really sure how to put this... For whatever reason, (that I still can't place my finger on) while I read this, I'm finding myself... bored?
Welp, I never expected to say that.

It just doesn't hold my interest anymore, I guess. I found myself wanting to skip through the text in the longer conversations. All the props to Sleepless, but I think I'll stop following this one. It's good writing, don't get me wrong, but... I dunno, man.
Please don't hate me

This was really good. I was right there with Luna, looking incredulous when Celestia started insinuating things, and the payoff was good. I laughed and part of me was a bit disappointed (Twilestilee?) but it turned out to be a very good chapter with lots of feelings, and I'm sort of dreading the future conversation with Luna. Also, the orange reference was brilliant. Somehow, the Apple family's dinner table was the perfect spot to have him land. Priceless comedy. I especially like your characterisation of Bic Mac. He has like what? All of one speaking sentence in the whole 3 seasons, apart from the obligatory Eeeeyup/Nnnnope! So it's always a bit difficult to figure out what he might sound like if he were to speak at length about anything, but somehow he's just perfect in this story.

Edit: I forgot, he actually does talk a bit in the Hearts and Hooves episode. Anyway, Bic Mac is still a dude of few words.

The nuances of character and relationship between Celestia and Luna here continue to leave me in complete shock and awe.

Yet another awesome chapter. I can't help but love your characters and how they interact. It's just... Right.

Did notice one error that I wanted to point out:

The very ends of her short pink mane is slightly burned, even.

Either the very end is burned, or the very ends are burned, otherwise you're mixing plural and singular

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This, and SO much more

only one note, there was an instance of "than than", and I'm too lazy to find it, but I don't think it was intended to exist.

edit 2: nevermind, i found it!

To be...just Celestia, to a young mare who had more idea than than anypony how much that was, even without a crown on atop a flowing, magical mane...

HNNNGGGGGG.
I was going to bed, then I see this here. Best. Night. EVER. That whole scene between Luna and Celestia (which is like, 80% of this chapter) was quite something.

My only wonder now is if this is done. It feels like a good place to end it, but I always keep this cautious optimism when this happen and it's still tagged incomplete. Because, you know, I wouldn't mind more of this.

Every time this updates, I have a reflexive impulse to flip back up to the top and hit the thumbs up, but I already did that chapters ago.

I'm quite interested in how evenly Celestia feeds Twilight's endless ambition and provides a path to her dreams while Cheerilee keeps her hooves tied to the ground and her crippling mental illness from ruining her. It makes for a wonderful character trio (though it's a shame we don't get Twilight's perspective ) Also, I simultaneously love and hate just how vague you made the end result. I'm still not sure if they're in a three way relationship, Twilight and Celestia are friends with benefits or Celestia's just their old friend. Until otherwise I'm going to adhere to Sparkle's Cupcake and say it's all of the above in equal measure and equal time.

You know when I imagine Twilight and Pinklestia in the basement of that library I imagine the ponified version of these two
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Pull the lever Celestia!

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Aww man, Luna wasn't the only one who got teased with the whole Implied Threesome thing...
And you knew that pretty well, huh? Damn you... <3

Outstanding chapter! The notion of godhood being something alicorns can seemingly put on and take off, and the discussion of just how "special" Twi is seem like foreshadowing of some kind. Is this leading up to this universe's take on Princess Twilight? I'm especially interested in how it's apparently a big secret that the princesses are (somewhat) normal(ish) ponies who somehow assume a greater, god-like power. Please tell me there will be more about this before the story is all wrapped up.

Twilight and Celestia share a guilty look—there’s no other word for it.

Miss Cheerilee frowns. “What happened?”

This whole section that went into the interaction between Cheerilee, Twi, and Celestia was fantastic. Loved it!

half-hidden in the pale light are watching her with baited breath

That should be "bated breath." Breath is only "baited" if the breather has been eating worms.

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So it is posted, so it is thought. I wonder what happens when they pull the "why do we even have this?" lever.

Also, goodness, chilli peppers? There will be clear sinuses for weeks.

I enjoyed this chapter, if I recall correctly there is only one more left?

I am absolutely loving this story so far. It does make me kind of depressed about what happens down the road, around the time that Twi IS named Arch-Mage, but for now, it's a lovely story that's kept me on the edge of my seat.

yay! now I can sleep!

Luna happy and at peace is Luna prowling and vital.

Beautiful words. Just beautiful.

I'm stealing them, of course. But only for describing myself to people who don't get it, not to put on paper, so don't worry too much about it.

Wow, that was a satisfying read. The Romance Reports Luna is probably my favorite rendition of Luna, and it was wonderful to read just a scene of her thoughts and nuances. Also there can never be enough witty back and forth between Cheerilee and Celestia. Thanks for the wicked fast update!

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^SAME HERE! DAMN YOU, SLEEPLESS! YOUR NAME IS TOO APROPO!

These conversations are so meaningful. I love this so much. :

Commence read.

Some deep dialogue between the two of them everyone.

2191930 Crazy things like Spike getting sent to S.A.A.!

I'd Hope Twilight would be a bit more worried that she'd just blown up Spike, or turned him into an Orange.

“It could...it could have been so much worse. She wouldn’t have even understood why you were trying to save her from her mistress, who she loved beyond words...”

s/who/whom

Other than that, the writing is simply amazing.

The princess closes her eyes and holds herself up haughtily. “I have found that things working properly does not always mean they aren’t going to explode.

Why am I reminded of Calvin and Hobbes with this line? When the teleporter went off, did it go "Boink"? Heavens to Megatroid, I love this story!

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Don't feel so bad. When I see this story has updated, I have to wait until I'm in the mood to read it. Something this special and deep, you can't just rush to read it, or you lose some of the nuances through being distracted. It's like buying a box of Godiva Truffles. You can't just eat them any old time, and all at once. You have to savor them, preferably with a clean palette and something nicely chilled to drink with them. Otherwise, they lose their specialness and become mundane or even worse, a chore.

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That should be "bated breath." Breath is only "baited" if the breather has been eating worms.

Or cheese if you're after mice.

love the foreshadowing regarding twilight

also, love this story, especially how you've er for lack of a better term, ponified the princesses. Its nice seeing them as themselves and not the crowns that they wear.

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Not to mention the titular "Archmage".

I deem this update to be... Satisfactory.

Well written, it doesn't seem long at all despite the immense volume, I read it and my only thought was "I hope I'm not nearly finished yet" "I hope there's more". Very good sign.

I love that the alternate ending where she just ends up with Celestia isn't nearly as beneficial to everypony involved as this one is. The same thoughts and mindsets are held but Cheerilee's mere existence in Twilight's life improves her relationship with Celestia, Celestia's with Luna, Cheerilee's with Mac...

It's like those old "Grow" games where if you change the order of involvement in the slightest nothing can truly reach its individual potential. It's... Clever. It's subtlely witty and its own particular brand of wise brilliance. Philisophical without preaching, it neither forces nor presumes with its insights, merely says 'it applies to these characters, here's why, it's not a universal truth because people are far more complex than they are simple". It works, it makes for something interesting to really, truly think about.

Also? A threesome would not go amiss in the next chapter. For story purposes.

Yes. Story purposes.

*Cough, Cough*.

Apologies for that input, there, I was just musing at how... Different a sequel is to its predecessor "Romance Reports". It's, again, brilliant because of that contrast, but it's so... Let me continue to muse on what that makes it.

Just read the first chapter of this without reading the whole description, and I felt totally lost before realizing it was a sequel.

Looks like it's time to go read Romance Reports, even though I guess I just spoiled the ending for myself. If it's as well written as this then the journey is more important than the destination anyway.

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Your in for a long slog, but it's worth it.

Yes! I finally could sit down and read this. Gosh, yes!

I'd been expecting the "confrontation" between the Sisters for a while now. It's never easy, isn't it? Being honest is unexpectedly difficult, despite its necessity. This particular chapter shows off your mastery of dialogue, that's for sure. It wasn't even dragged, because for a situation like this, there's no such thing as a shortcut to resolution.

It's hard for Celestia to not sound patronizing, even though she tries her darn hardest not to. Her... stripping herself from divinity was a pretty good idea. It would have been so easy for you to make Luna understand and cave-in, sort of, much quicker. But that would've made her look so weak compared to what she'd shown before. Celestia figuratively putting herself at the mercy of her sister was...nice, in that aspect.

The humor in the later part of the chapter was just a treat. Cheerilee's facial expressions are just so damn perfect, gosh.

I don't really have any complaints off the top of my head, so yeah. Onwards to the epilogue

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Don't worry, you're absolutely right. For a story like this, knowing the future has no impact on the events of the past. They're still poignant and, well, amazing even after you've read it 5 times. Have fun~

[the magical world in general is wondering why I haven’t named her Arch-Mage yet...”] OMG I JUST THOUGHT OF ANOTHER FIMFIC ABOUT TWILIGHT, LUNA, AND BEING THE ARCHMAGE! (commence fangirling in 3...2...1...)